


Fireplace

by NarryMusings



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: (Ish) - Freeform, Fluff, Harry makes a fire (without incident), M/M, Niall has a man cold, mentions of sex - sort of, that's pretty much the whole story, use of body heat to keep warm because the power has gone out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-09 00:47:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8869303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarryMusings/pseuds/NarryMusings
Summary: Niall is down and out with a man cold, and Harry risks it all to take care of him.





	

Niall never gets sick. Like, ever. He gets headaches every now and then, and sometimes he gets the sniffles – but he never gets _sick_ sick. Ever. Not like his boyfriend, who is susceptible to sickness once every couple of months, at least. His immune system is about big as an ant, and nowhere near as powerful.

Niall never gets sick – and yet here is, with a headache, and sore eyes, and a stuffy nose, and constant body shivers. He’s all wrapped up in one throw blanket from the sofa, and their spare comforter from the linen closet upstairs, with a beanie pulled down over his ears and a pair of Harry’s slippers on his feet. And- He can’t stop coughing.

And, to make things worse: the power has gone out, and the candles Harry as lit around the room look pretty – they could even look romantic, if Niall were in the mood – but they aren’t doing anything to provide him with heat.

The back door opens, and a burst of cold, winter air nips at Niall’s cheeks as, as Harry stumbles through it from the patio. His arms are full of chopped firewood he’d gotten out of the shed out back, and there’s snow all in his hair. Niall would want to brush it all away for him, if he weren’t mildly afraid that he might freeze to death if he moves.

“So, I was just talking to Mrs. Walsh over the fence, and apparently it’s a city-wide blackout because of the storm,” Harry tells him as he toes his shoes off, then carries the firewood towards the fireplace.

“Sounds lovely,” Niall mutters.

“She said that it isn’t expected to turn back on until sometime tomorrow morning.”

Niall groans. “That sounds even lovelier.” He coughs, then, and he’s more than a little surprised when he doesn’t cough up an entire lung.

“Baby, you sound awful,” Harry murmurs. He presses a kiss to the top of Niall’s head, through the hat, as he unzips his jacket and tosses it over the back of the couch. “Give me two minutes and I’ll have the fire lit. It should, hopefully, warm you up a bit.”

“If you don’t hurry up, I might actually die from hypothermia.”

Harry laughs, rolls his eyes fondly, and then gets to work on lighting the fire.

Niall watches him, and wonders how he got so lucky. Harry had plans to go out with his friends to celebrate Christmas tonight, has had these plans for weeks – and yet here he is, taking care of a sick Niall. “You can still go, y’know,” he murmurs. “Once the fire is lit, I should be fine.”

“Nonsense,” Harry scoffs. “You’ll need someone to add logs to make sure it doesn’t go out, someone to make you some chicken noodle soup for whenever you feel like trying to eat something and-“

“Harry-“

“Besides, you always take care of me when I’m sick,” Harry points out. “Now it’s my turn to take care of you.”

A fire starts burning less than a minute later, and Niall sort of wants to crawl across the floor to get closer to it. Harry climbs back to his feet, and then takes a step back and he wipes his hands on his trousers. “Heat!” he exclaims triumphantly. “Now, do you want anything, babe? A coffee, hot cocoa, some of that soup-“

Niall shakes his head. “Just c’mere,” he whispers, cocking his head to beckon his boyfriend closer.

Harry does as he’s told; comes around the end of the coffee table, climbs onto the couch, and opens his arms for Niall to fall into them and share his blanket. It’s the best medicine, if you ask him.

X

Niall opens his eyes, blinks himself awake to find himself lying across the whole length of the sofa. He looks around rather groggily, until he finds Harry crouched down in front of the fire and adding a couple more logs. He feels about as cold as he thinks ice would feel if it was a living thing. He’s cold to the bone, and shivering. “Haz,” he murmurs. “It’s f-fucking freez-ing,” he stumbles, teeth chattering.

Harry sighs, looking visibly upset. “I know, baby. I fell asleep and didn’t realize that the fire needed more wood until I started to get too cold.”

“Should have more layers on you.”

Harry shrugs.

“’m coming down there,” Niall announces, although his voice is barely louder than a whisper.

“What? No, Niall, I’ll be back in a minute, I just-“

“Wanna get closer to fire,” the blond admits. “Closer to you, too. If I die tonight, I want to at least be warm.”

Harry rolls his eyes. “And you say that I’m dramatic when I get sick.”

“You get sick all the time, you should be used to it now.”

“Oh is that now that works?” Harry snorts, teasing him.

Niall laughs – and then coughs. He winces as he crawls up besides Harry. (Thank goodness for the soft rug under his knees, by the way.) “Don’t make me laugh, it hurts.”

The fire burns back to life, then, and Niall welcomes the warmth all across his face.

“Now, do you want some soup?”

Niall shakes his head as he lies down. “Just lie down with me.”

And so Harry does. Niall thinks it might be hot – literally and figuratively, and more than a little bit cliché – to make love here, on the rug in front of the fireplace. They’ll have to try it sometime, when his body doesn’t feel like it’s trying to weigh him down.

X

“You know,” Harry murmurs, rubbing his hands up and down Niall’s arms a little while later. “We could take our clothes off and _then_ get back underneath the blanket together.”

Niall rolls his eyes. “Would that not defeat the purpose of trying to stay warm?”

“I mean, you know what they say about body heat…”

“I’m sick, Harry.”

“Really? I had no idea, what with the way you can’t stop shivering,” Harry says sarcastically.

Niall frowns, and it takes everything in him to lift his head off Harry’s chest so that he can look Harry in the eye. “We’re already risking everything where your immune system is concerned by having you be this close to me. Any closer, and you’ll definitely get sick. Why do you think I haven’t let you kiss me properly all day?”

Harry shrugs. “With my immune system the way it is, I’m probably going to get sick either way, considering your germs are in the air,” he points out.

“That doesn’t make it a good idea-“

“Doesn’t make it a _bad_ idea either.”

Niall sighs, reaching one hand up to cup Harry’s face. “Do you promise no funny business? I really would not be able to handle you tonight.”

“I mean… Is groping okay, at least?”

“I suppose I can let groping slide- But just this once.”

Harry gets naked quickly, before helping Niall peel his clothes away carefully. He tosses all the articles of clothing onto the couch, spoons himself against Niall’s back – despite his preference for being the little spoon; he’ll gladly make an exception tonight, and then pulls the comforter up over them both once more. If the way Niall’s skin already feels warm to the touch is anything to go by, he thinks it might actually be starting to work.


End file.
